Computer users like to multitask. That is, they like to interact with more than one service at once. Some applications, such as Microsoft's® MSN8 Internet Software®, allow users to interact with multiple types of services without needing to interact with multiple applications. MSN8 allows, for example, a user to browse the Internet and at the same time enjoy and control media, like hear and control a song, or see and control a video clip. Most applications, however, do not provide a user with a media player to enjoy media at the same time as perform other tasks in the application. For example, most word processing and email applications—in which many users spend a great deal of time working—do not provide users with a media player to enjoy and control media.
Users can work around this problem with non-media applications in some limited ways, however. A user can open a media player to provide media-playing services. Once interacting with the media player's window (and thus not the non-media application's window) the user can have the media player play media, like a video clip or a song. Once the media is playing, the user can then switch back to the non-media application to work in and interact with the non-media application, and the media can continue playing.
One problem with this, however, is that to control the media being played, the user has to switch perspective from the non-media-playing application back to the media player. A user interface or window that is not in perspective cannot fully interact with a user, such as by receiving input from a user and actively display information to the user.
Thus, the user has to cease working in and interacting with the non-media application to interact with the media player's window so that the user can control the media being played. The user often cannot change the volume, advance to another song on a CD being played, or otherwise control the media without first disengaging from the non-media application's window, initializing engagement with the media player's window to put it in perspective, and make the control change. After this the user still has to re-engage with the non-media application's window to go back to working in and interacting with the non-media application.
At the least, most users have to take the time and effort to click on the media player's window to put it in perspective, make the control (such as by clicking on a fast forward button), and click on the other application to bring it back into perspective. This can be three mouse-clicks, for each of which the user may have to locate and move the mouse to a particular spot. This can take an appreciable amount of time, in part because the user has to perform it, but also if a computer system running these applications takes time to bring these applications in and out of perspective. Thus, this switching back and forth between applications in order to control media can be time consuming and inconvenient for a user.
User interfaces for typical media-playing applications can also be inconvenient. Many user interfaces for media-playing applications take up significant space on the screen, possibly interfering with the user's interaction with the non-media-playing application.
In FIG. 1, for example, a media-playing application's window 102 obscures a non-media-playing application's window 104.
Also, the controls on these user interfaces can become obscured by other user interfaces (like windows), making them hard to find. If, for example, the non-media-playing application's window 104 were brought back into perspective, such as by bringing it into focus (not shown), the window 104 could cause a media-playing application's controls 106 to be obscured by the non-media-playing application's window 104. This is because a window or user interface that is in focus will usually be brought to the forefront, thereby potentially obscuring other windows and user interfaces.
This further inconvenience makes typical media-playing applications difficult to use when also using a non-media-playing application. With typical media-playing applications, the user has to locate the controls, which could be obscured or moved, bring into perspective the user interface (such as by clicking on the media-playing application's window), select a service through the control, and then go back to the non-media-playing application's window in which the user wishes to continue working.
Current systems and methods do not provide users with sufficient ability to control media unless the application being used contains a media player. For applications that do not, users often cannot conveniently and quickly control media when also working in another application.